Difference between Coursera and Udacity

These are the two major company that provide courses on varieties of topics and these are the comparison that I think is between these two.


Coursera:
                                   

1. Courses occur within a fixed time frame decided by the instructor.
2. Course content is generated by numerous professors at many institutions.
3. Course content is 80% computer science/math today, but liberal arts courses exist, and further growth in non-technical subjects is expected.
4. The course structure is at the discretion of professors, but usually combines long-ish video lectures (usually 1-2 hour per week) with comprehension quizzes and a longer assignment (i.e. programming).

Udacity:

                                             

1. Courses are available on demand; there is however a suggested completion time.
2. Course content is generated by a core group of technical experts with ties primarily to Stanford and Google.
3. Focused 100% on technical subjects (computer science, math, and a startup class).
4. Courses follow a consistent structure built around a short (<5 min) topic video, a quick quiz (usually a few lines of code), and then a recap. After the lesson part, a larger quiz section occurs.

Overall, they're two horses pulling the same wagon toward the goal of making education readily accessible and easy to deliver.